Many types of water and oil repellent coatings have been developed in the past for a wide variety of uses. Some of these have utilized silicone systems of one type or another. Others have involved the formation of metallic soaps. The present invention utilizes what is believes to be a different approach, in which a metal oxide and/or hydroxide is first bonded to a suitable substrate. This thin, normally invisible layer, is then treated with an organic, silicone or fluorocarbon compound to form a combination coating that is highly water and oil repellent and abrasion resistant in nature.